


New Rules

by honestgrins



Series: To Rely on the Kindness of Strangers [185]
Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: All-Human, F/M, and they were quarantined, and they were zoommates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-04
Updated: 2020-04-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:08:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23484334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/honestgrins/pseuds/honestgrins
Summary: Anonymous asked: Klaroline + New rules by Dua Lipa.
Relationships: Caroline Forbes/Klaus Mikaelson
Series: To Rely on the Kindness of Strangers [185]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/378628
Kudos: 30





	New Rules

Caroline gasped at the blur of black streaking across the screen. “Who’s that?!”

Groaning, Klaus leaned forward to grab what appeared to be an unruly cat and cuddled it on his lap. “This would be Angus, who’s very distressed that I insist upon actually working from home.”

“You did not strike me as a cat person,” she admitted, more than a little charmed at the idle way his hand continued to pet the ball of fur. “Hello, Angus.” A hiss was all she got in return, but it was by far the best thing to happen in any of the conference calls she’s had to host from her couch. “I know, work is boring.”

“Hey.” Klaus glared at her through the camera, though it did nothing to hide the dimples from biting back a smile. “Here I thought we were getting along, sweetheart.”

She rolled her eyes. Most of their interactions at work were limited to passive aggressive emails and halfhearted small talk in the break room. Who knew it took a global pandemic and mass quarantine to make her appreciate his stupid smirk? “I plead insanity from being homebound. I need people, Klaus, this is driving me nuts.”

He’d likely been about to make a terrible joke at her expense - one she was almost excited to hear and counter - when her phone rang, which triggered her nearby tablet and the computer itself to ring as well. Angus dove out of the frame at the sudden cacophony while she struggled to shut them all off.

“Sorry! I usually don’t have all the screens lit up at once,” she said, grimacing at the name associated with the missed call notification. 

“Do you need to take that?”

Her head shook automatically, for so many reasons she didn’t care to get into. “Nope, not at all. What were we working on before the cat?”

But her devices all rang again, and she took a particular delight in declining the call. 

Klaus was watching her with amusement. “For someone who misses people, you don’t seem to be missing that one.”

She shrugged. “It’s just an ex. He’s taken offense that I effectively cut him out of my life once he ditched me for an old flame, and I enjoy offending him.”

Lifting an impressed eyebrow, Klaus nodded. “Congratulations. I’ve had a clingy ex or two myself, and I’ve never successfully shaken them off until they sunk their claws into someone new.”

“Don’t take their calls and refuse to be their friend. Takes all the enticement of getting back together off the table,” Caroline explained. “For us, anyway. Stefan has yet to take the lesson.”

His smirk returning, he seemed to enjoy the smug cross of her arms. “His loss, love.”

Caroline licked her lips, mourning that she couldn’t tease him for the flirt in person. But lemons into lemonade and all that. “To someone else’s gain, hopefully,” she flirted right back. “Eventually, when I can leave this damn apartment again.”

“I don’t know about that,” Klaus added with a deep grin. “There’s plenty to be gained over phone and Skype, don’t you think?”

Oh, how true.


End file.
